Leadership, Taxes, Lighting and Powdery Mildew

Nicola Sturgeon has been appointed leader of the SNP.  She was unopposed and her status will be made official at the forthcoming SNP conference in Perth.  Three MSPs are in the running for the deputy leadership - Stewart Hosie, Angela Constance and Keith Brown.  My money’s on Keith Brown as I think he would make an excellent deputy leader and unlike Ms Constance, who has refused to also take the role of Deputy First Minister, Keith Brown would handle that brief well.  However, it’s not down to me to decide; the decision will be made by members at the conference.

There is a lot of talk about the Yes parties joining forces for next year’s general election. I heard a little of the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme yesterday and apart from the Patrick Harvie interview, I wasn’t too impressed.  Is it a good idea? Perhaps, but I don’t think it will happen.  Too many large egos involved.

Where is Scotland going to get the money to have this social utopia?  The SNP representative mentioned taxes. Higher taxes for those who in the middle-upper earnings bracket will discourage those we need to attract from overseas and perhaps result in some leaving the country to work elsewhere. It will also discourage employers from increasing their staffing levels. What we should be doing is raising our standards of education so as the young are better prepared to enter the workplace.  

It’s been a trying couple of weeks here.  At this time of year I attempt to display my DIY skills with varying degrees of success. This year most of the little tasks have been completed but I now await the third type of under-cupboard lighting for the kitchen.  The old lights were fine but I have been unable to buy replacements recently as ‘LED have replaced standard types’ I was told.  Cue my lovely electrician who suggested a roll of sticky-backed mini LED lights. ‘Low energy and should do the job’.  They didn’t.  The light level was extremely poor. They were removed and a block of LED lights replaced them. Not much difference in the light level but plenty in the price.  So now I await the next ‘modern', low energy and money saving fittings.  No idea what they will be but until now I didn’t realise how dependent I was upon the under cupboard lighting and how dismal the kitchen is without it in evenings.

Time for a visit to the garden centre to purchase some plants for a couple of winter hanging baskets.  I usually use winter flowering pansies but last year they were attacked by powdery mildew and they transcended from two delightful displays to dead within days.  Maybe I’ll chance them again this year but I must remember the skimmed milk. 

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What's Patrick Harvie Up To?

When the Scottish Green Party's joint lead, Patrick Harvie, stood alongside Alex Salmond at the launch of the Yes Scotland campaign a fortnight ago I thought there had been a pre-launch understanding that the Greens would take a strong role in the promotion of independence for Scotland.

However it would appear not all was as it seemed when Patrick Harvie signed his support on the whiteboard.  Now he says:

"We feel frustrated by the lack of progress towards a genuinely inclusive campaign, and concerned that a non-inclusive campaign will be less likely to succeed."


Green policy is to support independence and the party advocates a multi-option referendum. The question of a multi-option being on the ballot paper has yet to be decided and so too is the party's formal joining for the 'Yes' vote.

What I can't understand is why Patrick Harvie decided taking a high profile part in the campaign launch was a good idea when his party had not formally joined the campaign because it 'was not inclusive enough'.

It's obvious the SNP would be the lead party in the campaign because its manpower and resources are much higher than the Greens could muster, but I think Mr Harvie has done his party and himself a disservice complaining so soon after he was filmed smiling broadly in the company of other independence supporters.  What is his point?

Have the party members complained that they were never informed of his close association with the Yes Scotland campaign or has Patrick decided to make waves because his voice isn't being heard?

It could be a little of both but certainly he hasn't done himself any favours by moaning about inclusivity.  His comments seem more like a case of soor plooms than a genuine grievance about the SNP. He should have ensured his party were satisfied with their position in the campaign prior to standing on a platform with Alex Salmond.

Patrick Harvie is a popular and eloquent politician.  Achieving such a headline in the Daily Record will do him and his party little good. Time to drop the whinging Patrick and, if the SNP won't show you the reverence you feel you deserve, then you're perfectly capable of presenting your case for independence without Alex Salmond holding your hand.

Achieving independence for Scotland is much more important than the position of a few politicians. Margo MacDonald, who sent a message of support to the campaign, suggests that the issues upsetting Partrick Harvie have been caused by poor planning.  She may be right, but it was Patrick Harvie's responsibility to find out the details of his party's role in Yes Scotland before he appeared as one of the cheerleaders at the launch.

Picture by Ian Rutherford.

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Patrick Harvie - A Worthy Complaint?

Many civilised parliaments have, during the working day, a short time devoted to prayer or some form of meditation.

The Scottish Parliament has a short period at the beginning of each day which is referred to as the Time for Reflection session and guest speakers, from all religions or none, are invited to address the members.

Yesterday Professor Cecil Samuelson, president of Brigham Young University in Utah was one such guest. It's my understand his speech was well within the guidelines which state 'all contributions in the chamber must be consistent with the principle of equal opportunities for all and should not include remarks or comments which are discriminatory'.

But MSP Patrick Harvie, the leader of the Green Party, accused the parliament of inviting the Mormon leader of a 'homophobic' university to address Holyrood.  Mr Harvie is openly gay.  His objection was that Mr Samuelson should never have been invited.  He continued:

"Parliament is an institution for the whole of Scotland and this platform must never again be given to someone with this kind of attitude to Scotland's gays and lesbians."

The Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick replied saying that all speakers were advised of Parliament's policies and their speeches had to fit in with those.  She added: "I would remind you that Time for Reflection contributors are guests of this parliament and should be shown courtesy by all members. Any member who heard the speech would take no issue with it."

A number of Brigham Young students are working as interns for MSPs.

Patrick Harvie himself contributes a great deal to the Scottish Parliament but on this occasion I think he's not done himself, or Scotland's lesbian and gay community, any favours.  His objection sounded trite.  At times I think the gay community should reign in their protests because they are not irrelevant to a situation.  This was one of those occasions.

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A Slippy Portfolio

It was no surprise to learn Stewart Stevenson, the Scotland's Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change resigned yesterday, although I do think it was rather a pointless resignation in some ways.  He wasn't responsible for the weather or the poor driving standards of some road users last week, but he was responsible for showing the public he had command of his transport brief.  On Newsnight last week it was fairly obvious he had no realistic understanding of the situation.  Mind you, the behaviour of the interviewer was also quite pathetic is his calls for an apology.  This latest trend in Scottish politics of the media expecting our representatives to prostrate themselves on a BBC studio floor is distasteful.  Like many, I prefer an apology to be sincere and listening to a BBC interviewer repeatedly saying, 'Will you apologise to the public?' was wearisome.  During the 24 hours of chaos on the M8 last week I never heard one member of the public blame the Government.  The police were criticised over and over again but the First Minister has strongly defended their actions or lack of them.

Who will succeed him?  I would rather leave that to more informed SNP bloggers.  Joan MacAlpine has the suggestion it could be time for a female to hold the post - Roseanne Cunningham would be my choice - while Brian Taylor gives us his pennyworth of really nothing. Scotland's satirical blogger mentions Mr Stevenson in his latest post as does Patrick Harvie, the Green MSP, who concentrates more on the climate change aspect of the job rather than Mr Stevenson's resignation. I would tend to agree with one of his commenters that this was a stitch up among the unionist parties and the Scottish media.  Once Mr Stevenson's absence at Friday's meeting became public, the writing was on the wall I suspect.

Will Patterson contributes a thoughtful insight into possible successors and I hope he has no objection to me quoting his last sentence: 'By the end of the week, Scotland will have either a new Transport Minister or an early election on its hands.  Fasten your seatbelts...'

Alex Salmond has a wide choice of experienced colleagues who would be very capable of handling the portfolio.  Labour and the other unionist parties may just regret their decision to put so much pressure upon Mr Stevenson this past week.

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